Plastic bags are bulky and must be folded or rolled for packaging and transportation. For example, a typical 24″ wide by 24″ high plastic bag has a 7 to 10 gallon capacity when filled. Therefore, plastic bags are typically folded to reduce the width in half or a quarter of the original size, folded or rolled, and then stored in a packaging for transportation and dispensing. Plastic bags have, in the past, been stored together or individually.
When plastic bags are stored together they have been typically stored in rolls with perforations defining a point of separation. The purpose of the perforations is so that the continuous roll of bags can be separated, each bag being separable one from another. As such, the bags could be used in a variety of settings and apparatuses providing the user with a way to separate the bags. Continuous rolled bags offer varying means for pulling a bag from the roll. Some allow the user to unwrap a bag from the roll starting with the outward most bag, working inward toward the center of the roll and finishing the roll by taking the inner most bag. Others allow the user to take a bag from the roll starting with the inner most bag, working outward with each subsequent bag, and finishing the roll by taking the outer most bag. It is commonly known that garbage can liners unwrap starting from the outside of the roll and use perforations for separation as a convenience to the user. The perforations allow the user to tear off one bag at a time from the roll. Food storage bags in the grocery store have evolved in the same way. Shoppers are now provided the convenience of rolled food storage bags having perforations optimally positioned so that one bag at a time may be dispensed from the roll. Moreover, special dispensing racks have been developed to insure that a single tug by the shopper, in an effort to separate the bags at the perforations, does not result in multiple bags being dispensed at a time. These racks typically are designed with a retention member that prevents the next bag from dispensing while providing sufficient resistance to ensure that the bag being dispensed separates from the next bag, along the perforations. Yet, even the best attempts to redesign the dispensing rack have not totally prevented multiple bags from spinning off from the roll at the first tug by a user. Even if the next bag is prevented from dispensing, the bags may tear along the body of the bag and not along the perforations, thereby rendering the bag unusable. Thus, the user is then left with the frustrating task of either rolling the bags back up onto the roll and trying again or tearing the bags apart by hand and leaving the others to waste. In addition to creating waste and the user becoming frustrated, malfunctions more often than not result in the user physically handling subsequent bags. More importantly, if the user handles the open end of the bag the bag may no longer be hygienically safe.
Plastic bags that unwrap starting with the exterior bag first and ending with the inner most bag have some of the same problems mentioned above. Furthermore, dispensing the plastic bags starting from the center of the roll may create additional concerns and possible malfunctions. For example, the role could become entirely unusable if the perforations fail before the next bag is pulled from the center of the role. Still, attempts to grab the bag now stuck in the center of the roll could result in increased user frustration and additional waste. In addition, once a user does recover the lost end, the user must pull the two bags apart from each other. Thus, the bags and bag openings are exposed to physical handling and run the risk of becoming contaminated.
Therefore, a primary objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags that pulls starting from the center moving outwardly and in which the plastic bags are separated without perforations thus eliminating the potential for malfunctions necessitating the users handling of bags other than the one intended to be removed from the roll.
Plastic bags without perforations have also been stored individually in a folded configuration upon each other. This requires the user to dig within a carton for a bag. In addition, a user may pull out more than one bag rather than just an individual bag.
Therefore, a further objective is to provide a dispensing apparatus that insures that the plastic bags are individually dispensed, one at a time and accessible adjacent the exterior of a dispensing container thereby providing each user a hygienically safe storage bag.
Also previously known in the art is the method of electrostatically charging plastic bags so that they may form a coreless roll. Dispensing starting from the outermost bag and moving inward requires that a user manually handle each bag. In this configuration, the user grasps the outermost bag, tugs, causing the entire roll to spin and this process is performed until the last bag is reached. Because the user must rotate the entire roll to dispense one bag from the roll this configuration is highly susceptible to malfunctions. In particular, if the static binding is less than the rotational resistance of the roll the dispensing bag will prematurely detach from the next bag. Thus, the user has to often handle the bags extensively in search for the lost end of the bag within the container.
Therefore, a further objective is the provision of a roll of plastic bags that may be dispensed without unrolling the roll of plastic bags.
A still further objective of the present invention is the provision of a roll of plastic bags that can be quickly and easily dispensed, one at a time.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags that dispense, one bag at a time, from within a dispensing carton.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a hygienically safe plastic bag for each user.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a dispensing container wherein the roll of plastic bags are stored and dispensed from within the dispensing container, one at a time, to eliminate physical handling of the roll of plastic bags.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags having a dispensing end closely adjacent the dispensing carton for the user to grasp.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags having a dispensing end, for grasping by the user, being the closed end of the plastic bag.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags wherein the individual bags comprising the roll are not physically attached.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags wherein the dispensing aperture insures accurate disbursement of one bag at a time and a clean storing environment.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags wherein the feed pathway for the bags prevents multiple feeds.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags electrostatically bound to each other.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags wherein the electrostatic bonds, holding the individual bags together within the dispensing container, are greater than the drag forces along the feed pathway.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a feed pathway wherein the angles and the dispensing aperture are calculated for the drag forces.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags wherein the electrostatic bonds, holding the individual bags together without the dispensing container, are less than the drag forces along the feed pathway.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags wherein the dispensing container is the preferred container for shipping.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags wherein the dispensing container is containable by a dispensing rack.
A further of the present invention is to provide a roll of plastic bags, dispensing container and service rack wherein the service rack houses mounting brackets.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a service rack wherein the structural elements of the rack are designed to secure the dispensing container against the forces generated by moving the bags from the roll along the feed pathway and out the dispensing aperture.
A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a service rack having front support member lowered to facilitate and accommodate easy loading of the dispensing container.
A further objective of the present invention is to provide a service rack wherein the mounting brackets allow for varied mounting configurations.
A still further objective is a means which permits gripping of the plastic bags when they are not being dispensed.
Another objective of the present invention is the provision of a plastic bag roll dispenser which is economical to produce, durable, and reliable in use.
To accomplish the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings; however, the drawings are illustrative only, and changes may be made in the specific constructions illustrated which are preferred embodiments only.